


Distance Doesn't Matter

by morganaDW (morgana07)



Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, J2 RPS - Freeform, Light Angst, M/M, Phone Sex, Porn, Protective Jensen, Romance, Schmoop, Slash, Some Humor, Upset Jared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 22:31:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1704917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgana07/pseuds/morganaDW
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The season is over. Jensen's in LA while Jared's at the Asylum Convention in London. After Jared's urged to live Tweet the Finale and falls apart it's up to Jensen to prove that between them distance really doesn't matter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distance Doesn't Matter

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Mild language as a always as well as the usual explicit content warning for this type of story.
> 
> Spoilers: Yes. There are mentions of the finale so there will be spoilers contained within. Be aware of this before reading.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is written for fun.
> 
> Beta'd By: nerdyglasses247.
> 
> Author Note: I wrote this while the muse and I were still on an emotional hit from the finale so that's where this plot bunny came from. I hope you guys enjoy it.

**Distance Doesn’t Matter**

“My brother said to tell you that you managed to make him pissed off, sob like a baby, and hide under a pillow, all in the span of 50 minutes, so…good job on the finale. He also wants to know Jared was really affected by that scene.” Danneel Harris Ackles said this from the door of the den to where her husband was sitting. “Jensen?”

He’d filmed the scenes. He’d read the script. Still, seeing the full episode on TV, live, put it in another perspective. Dean Winchester had been in a dark place for so many months, and he would be back there in a matter of months when filming picked back up. Jensen Ackles, voice and body of Dean, had to pull himself out of the dark mindset of his character that he’d played for so long.

Jensen didn’t immediately hear his wife. He sat, rolling something between his fingers, until she touched his arm. “Huh?” He blinked up. Seeing the worry on her pretty face, he offered a tired smile, but it didn’t quite last. “Jay…he…yeah, it wasn‘t really an easy day for us when he filmed that scene, and…shit!”

When it was finale night, he and his co-star usually watched the show together. This year, however, the finale fell on the same day as when Jensen was in L.A. with Danneel and JJ, and Jared in London with Gen and the boys, doing a convention. This convention was one of the few that Jensen didn’t attend with his best friend.

They both had sworn to each other that they would wait until they could watch it together, which would be the following weekend when they were both in Rome. However, Jensen’s curiosity had gotten the better of him. Now, as his gut clenched, he wondered if Jared had given into the same temptation and watched.

Jensen had been telling his wife the truth. The day they filmed the scene where Dean basically died in Sam’s arms hadn’t been an easy one for either actor.

\---

For Jensen, it had been a physically and emotionally brutal scene. He had been going through an unusually dark phase for several weeks, due to his ‘Mark of Cain’ storyline heating up. He’d been more moody and brusque as they got closer to the end of the season and filming the finale. While it had been hard on him, Jensen knew it had been equally as hard for the young man who played his brother. In some cases, it had been even harder.

Jensen knew he and Jared played off of one another. There were some episodes, though, that could get too deep, too close, and too emotional even for the stars. This finale had one such scene that proved too much for Jared.

The whole MOC arc had started to weigh heavily on them as actors and as friends. When it began to affect the other side of their relationship, however, then it began to worry Jensen. The other side of the relationship was merely hinted at by their fans, but they didn’t really believe it. They just joked about it, not really being serious.

The night before the day that they shot the scene in the factory, the scene where Dean “died”, Jensen was worried. He’d woken up early because, in his gut, he knew something was wrong. He found Jared huddled in a corner of the room they shared in their house at Vancouver.

Seeing all 6’4” of his best friend pulled up in a ball took Jensen back several years to the finale of season 3. Their relationship was still new but their friendship was solid. The same thing happened: Jensen had arrived at the place they shared then to find Jared sobbing in the bathroom.

They had run the lines plenty of times at their place. Very few times was Jared able to make it to the end before he had cracked emotionally. On set, they were getting their makeup done, and the first time they ran their lines, Jared’s assistant, Jeremy, had called a break to allow Jared to have time to calm down.

In Jensen’s honest opinion, the hardest part about being in love with his best friend and co-star was being unable to do what he wanted to in order to comfort his friend during those moments of heartbreaking emotional pain.

For so many seasons, it had been Dean on the verge of losing Sam, so Jensen had usually taken the brunt of those scenes. Jensen had a similar reaction in the second season, when Sam died in Dean’s arms. The similarities hadn’t escaped Jensen this year, except this time, both Jared and his character, Sam Winchester, were more emotional and the scene was brutally hard for them.

After they’d gotten the final take in the bag and a break had been called, Jensen started moving. He waved off the make-up people who’d wanted to clear him of the blood and crap because he was busy tugging a barely-keeping-it-together Jared off set and toward his own trailer.

Jensen figured there were a few people on the set that suspected he and Jared were more than best friends and roommates despite both men being married with kids. Two of those people included the actors who played an angel and the King of Hell.

Everyone, including Misha Collins and Mark Sheppard (an angel and the King of Hell, respectively), knew the “death” scene would be an all-day deal, so there was no reason for any other actors to come on set. However, as Jensen fought the crowd of crew members looking to offer congratulations on filming such a hard scene, he caught sight of both men, trying to help Jensen fight the crowd of makeup help, camera men, and the like. Jensen just pushed through, knowing he needed to get Jared away from the set and find them enough privacy to unwind.

It was actually Mark who expressed it best, finally cleared the way after jerking the loudspeaker away from Misha, and reprimanding the crew members. “Bloody hell, can’t you people see the boy’s about to self-implode from emotion? Give ‘em a chance to settle down before mobbing them.”

“I know where there’s a hose,” Misha piped up helpfully and that gave the actors a chance to reach Jensen’s trailer.

The moment the door had closed and locked, Jensen barely had any time to brace himself before he had an armful of emotional Jared,  trying to talk through tears and not having much success until finally, Jensen moved them to the sofa to just hold him until the worst was over.

Jared cried himself to sleep. Knowing he was exhausted, Jensen let him sleep through their break. Later, he would deny he ever growled at the knock on the door, calling him to makeup. Reluctantly, he woke up his co-star with a kiss that he hoped would at least make Jared smile. He wasn’t disappointed.

“Remember what I told you after season 3? What you told me during season 2? No matter what happens on the screen, you know I’ll be there with you when we go home at night,” Jensen said softly. He made sure Jared ate something while he was getting cleaned up which was a harder process since some of the fake blood had dried and required scrubbing.

Jensen hoped the worst was over. As it turned out, however, the scene set in the bunker was just as bad because, while season 3 hadn’t showed the aftermath, this one required Sam to bring Dean’s cleaned up but still lifeless body back to the bunker to be placed in his room.

It took several shots because while Sam was called to be emotional it wasn’t in the range that Jared kept getting hit with. Finally, after a short discussion with both Jeremy and the director, Thomas Wright, Jensen convinced them to let him stay in the scene during Jared’s close-ups like they had done in season 3.

Jensen kept his fingertips on Jared’s jeans just to maintain contact and his friend had pulled the scene off. When “Cut!” was called, the final and last time for the season, Jared did something that surprised everyone. No one was more shocked than Mark when Jared punched him in the gut. It was as if Jared was reacting for Sam’s rage at what could be seen as the demon’s fault.

“He’ll be fun at the cons coming up,” the shorter actor had gasped. Jensen tried to apologize as the rest of the cast just stared in shock. “Oh, Collins bet me $50 that I’d end up punched or bleeding before this was wrapped. Now get after him.”

After the wrap-up party that Jensen knew he and Jared were both too tired to attend but needed to, Jensen was waiting for the final fallout but was surprised when Jared merely curled against him in bed without saying much or reacting. That truly worried Jensen because a quietly withdrawn Jared was not a good thing, especially when they were scheduled to go in different directions in order to make everything still look normal.

Jared left Canada first and Jensen made him swear if he needed to talk or vent or have wild and crazy phone sex that he’d call him no matter where he was or what time it was. The younger man agreed but no calls came. By the time they met up in New York for the Upfronts, Jensen could see that something was really off with his friend.

Oh, in public Jared could pull the act off. He was smiling, friendly, and happy but only those people who knew him well could see the buried emotion that he was, so far, successful in keeping buried.

\--

Now, as Jensen sat alone in his den after having watched the finale, he seriously wondered if catching a flight to London was feasible… even if it required some smooth talking to Danneel.

He’d been running his fingers through his short dark blond hair without realizing. When he did that it usually came out looking like Dean Winchester’s. He didn’t hear the phone ringing or Danneel speaking to it or him until once again she hit his shoulder. “Huh?”

“Mark’s on the phone.” She held it out with an odd worry line creasing her normally smooth forehead as she added, “Or Crowley. I’m not sure which because right now he sounds more like his character.”

That had Jensen shooting to his feet to take the phone. “What’s wrong?” he demanded, instantly worried since he knew the man was in London at the con. “Is he alright?”

“And I couldn’t have just been calling to say ‘Hello, Jensen’?” Mark returned with a fair amount of Crowley’s snark. However, the underlying strain could be heard as well as something muffled in the background. “What makes you think there’s something wrong or that it might have anything to do with your Sasquatch-sized co-star?”

“Because you hardly ever call me if we’re not filming. And because I know you’re in London for the Asylum Con and wouldn’t be calling me if something wasn’t wrong with Jared,” Jensen countered, his fingers tightening on the phone. His worry kicked up a notch when he thought he heard a familiar female voice. Jensen demanded, “Mark? It’s too late to be at the Con so…what’s going on?”

Mark Sheppard rubbed the back of his head, wincing at something behind him and rolling his eyes. “Hey! Leave him alone before he really does throw something heavy at your bloody head! Give me a chance to drop this delicately on our hero-to-be. And shut your phone off, cause Jensen will probably be calling you for causing this mess.”

“I did not cause this,” Misha said in the background. “I simply…made a suggestion.”

“You bloody dared Jared to live-tweet the finale!” Mark’s voice rose. And then he groaned at the low growl he heard from America and had to stop and ask himself if these two hadn’t been playing the Winchesters a bit too long. “Jensen? You still on the line?”

“What the hell happened? And where’s Jared?” Jensen’s voice was dropping to a lower tone, one that he almost never used unless he was well and truly pissed off. Or if he was in character.

“Someone, who shall remain nameless or else you’ll want him choked with his trench coat, dared... Fine! _Suggested_ , that Moose live-tweet the finale despite having major jetlag and looking like… well, you looked worse when Dean was dead than Jared looked tonight,” Mark cringed at the cursing he heard over the phone and was actually sort of relieved that the man couldn’t reach through the telephone.

Jensen was scowling. His temper sizzled when he suddenly looked to his own cell phone that had been in his pocket all evening. It hadn’t gone off once. “My phone usually blows up whenever Jared’s live twittering or whatever the hell you guys call it. It hasn’t buzzed all night,” he argued.

“Yeah, the live-tweeting thing didn’t happen. Gen said he started closing off as soon as they rolled the ‘The Road So Far’ bit and by the first five minutes she was on the phone asking Vicki to come get the boys so they wouldn’t be here while their father had a meltdown,” Mark stepped closer to the closed door while meeting the concerned eyes of the petite dark haired young woman who was standing there nervously biting her lip. “By the time I got here you’d…Dean had been used as a punching bag and our favorite Moose was literally a raging basketcase.

“He wouldn’t listen to Gen. He throws stuff at me if I stick my head in the damn room. Between what little Misha and I can make out, he’s flipping between reacting in Sam thought and calling for you. Does he happen to channel Sam Winchester often or is it just Crowley he reacts to like this?”

“Jared channels Sam as often as I tend to channel Dean,” Jensen rubbed his head where a headache was forming. This was bad and he knew it. If things got this bad, previous experiences proved he had to physically be with Jared in order to calm him down.

“Can…shit, I knew he was bottling it up in New York. I never should’ve let him go back to London without me. Can you or Misha put me on speaker and get it close to him?” he asked. He figured he could try it this way before he resorted to calling Clif who, surprisingly, wasn’t already there.

Mark’s brows lifted. Was Jensen insane? Genevieve Cortese Padalecki took the phone from Mark as Misha ducked a throw pillow aimed at him. He had suggested Jared quit replaying the death scene on his laptop where he’d found a feed to watch the episode.

“I’ve never seen him this bad, Jensen,” Genevieve remarked quietly. She had known that Jared watching the finale would be a mistake especially since he hadn’t wanted anyone else but Jensen to watch it with him. “I told him to call you and maybe you guys could Skype or something and watch it together but he just said it wasn’t the same and he didn’t want you to watch it again. That he’d watched you die plenty of time in 9 seasons.”

“What? Dean died once, went to purgatory and…oh, crap. He must be remembering the damn Mystery Spot episode.” Jensen groaned, sitting on his sofa and wishing he could just snap his fingers and be with his friend. He heard harsh breathing and soft mumbled words as Gen placed the cell phone close to Jared. “This sucks and for God’s sake if he’s throwing stuff at Mark keep Richard the hell away from him.” He hurried to say.

Gen hadn’t joined the show until season 4 but she’d watched all the episodes. She had been told how hard that episode had been on her husband back then, and she understood. Now, she stepped up to Jared and saw that he had frozen the screen on the part of the episode where Sam was holding Dean’s body. She ached so much for the pain he had suffered because of having to film that, and now he was reliving it without his best friend there to soften it.

Being married to Jared for so long, Gen wasn’t stupid. She’d known from the start that Jared and Jensen were more than just best friends and co-stars. She’d seen that the first time she’d watched them together on and off screen. It had been a little odd at first but she’d come to accept that while Jared loved her and their two sons, his heart would always belong to one person; a person she wished could be here now.

“Jared? Honey? Can I take that while you take the phone?” she asked, bending down to reach for the laptop but stopped when his hand reached out to grab it. She noticed what else was in his hand. “Jensen’s on the phone, Jared.”

Jared Padalecki’s long hair was always in his face if he wasn’t careful. Right then, it was all over the place and he swept a hand back to push it away from his face. He stared at his wife through blurry red-rimmed eyes and then he saw the phone in her hand.

“No…Jen would have no reason to call.” He eyed it suspiciously while throwing a glare and a curse toward the door where Mark was quickly back-peddling. “I’m still blaming Crowley for this so…”

“So, why the hell are you throwing crap at Mark if you blame Crowley?” Jensen’s voice asked over the speaker, knowing when he’d been heard because he heard the soft whisper of his name. The phone was muffled when Jared took it from Gen. “Do we have to have another one of those long talks about mixing up reality and the show again, Jay?”

“Jen!” Jensen spoke low and deep, with a drawl usually reserved for when it was just the two of them.  The second Jared heard Jensen, his attention turned from the frozen scene on his screen and the other people in the motel room to the phone. “What’s…What’s wrong? You okay? JJ okay and Danneel?” he asked, automatically worried.

Jensen glanced up, looking for Danneel, and saw that she had slipped out of the room. She must have realized something was wrong. Jensen leaned back on the sofa but was too tense and had to stand up. “No, they’re both fine. I’m…slightly more than worried about you, though,” he replied. He placed his phone on the small desk in the room he used when reading scripts. “Tell me what happened, Jay.”

When speaking to Mark or Gen, or if he happened to get Misha on the phone, Jensen almost always used Jared’s name but when it was just them, either on the phone or in person, then nicknames came out. He also knew that right now, using Jared’s nickname would help ground him a little.

“I…I…watched the episode.” Jared’s voice was ragged from crying or shouting or both. “I know we said we’d watch it together but I…I thought if I saw it alone while live-tweeting that I could handle it but… All I keep seeing is your face with all that blood and holding…” he broke off, sobbing. “Jen… I…”

“Hey, listen to me.” Jensen quickly realized that the stress from filming, making appearances, and being apart was taking a bigger toll on Jared than either of them expected. “Jay? Jared, you listening to me?” Jensen glanced to the door before moving to lock it. He also pulled the curtains on the French doors that led outside and sat behind the desk to move the phone closer to him. “Are you alone right now?”

It took a couple of moments before Jared’s over-emotional brain caught the question. He looked around the darkened bedroom in the suite that he, Gen, and their sons were using. He saw that Gen had slipped out but Mark and Misha were still hanging out close to the door. He felt a low growl escape.

“Hey! No snarling!” Jensen made his voice sharp, more Dean-like since he knew right now he needed to get Jared’s attention on him. In order to get Jared to focus on him, Jensen needed to get him alone even with an ocean between them. “Mark! Get the guy who’d better pray I don’t catch up to him and take Gen out to dinner or over to Misha’s suite. Just leave Jared alone and he’ll see you guys tomorrow. I have this.”

“Told you Jensen would be gunning for you for daring Jared to live-tweet,” Mark snorted. He frowned. He was a little concerned about leaving the emotional man alone. “You think leaving him for a couple hours will be alright?”

Gen smiled worriedly, but relaxed once it occurred to her what Jensen wanted to do. “Jared’s got Jensen on the phone so he will stay focused on that if he knows we’re not around to bother him.” She suspected another reason the older of the two actors wanted privacy but wouldn’t say that to the other two men. “Should I tell Clif something?” she asked, pitching her voice so it would be picked up by the phone.

“No, I’ll call Clif once Jared and I talk awhile.” Jensen thought he heard a low mumble and he grinned. “No one’s saying you’re a baby and needs Clif to clean up a mess. Now go shut the door in Misha’s face. Don’t even think of throwing a punch at Mark. And kiss Gen g’night because then it’s gonna be you and me on the phone for the next several hours.”

Once Jared followed his instructions to the letter with a short snarl toward the actor who played the King of Hell, Jensen got him to sit on the bed.

“Miss you, babe,” he murmured lowly, voice dropping to the next tone; the one that was only for Jared.

“Miss you too, Jen.” Jared sounded worn out as he settled on the bed after kicking off his shoes, wincing as the tight muscles in his back popped and pulled and he groaned. “I’m an actor. I’ve been through every possible emotional scene in nine years so why is this one hurting me so much?”

“Because you are a very physical and emotionally reactive actor who, like Sam Winchester, wear your heart on your sleeve. And it’s been a tough season for the boys and us. That came up too close to when we had to take this break and unlike other times when we’d be together, we’ve been apart. And you don’t feel comfortable expressing your pain to Gen, much less anyone else who’s there with you.” Jensen knew in his heart there was more to it and wished he could fix it as easily as he wanted to. “Now, tell me why you didn’t call me during any of this time.” he said. “Have you been sleeping?”

Jared wished he could close his eyes but, like back in season three, when he closed his eyes, all he saw was Dean dying and how really scary lifeless Jensen had looked and felt in his arms. “Can’t,” he whispered, instead of lying to keep his friend from worrying. “All I see is you, Jen. I mean, realistically I know it was Dean, which is bad enough, but it just felt and looked so damn real that… I… The other night I dreamed Dani had called Gen to tell me that you’d been in some horrible car accident and that you were…”

“Jay,” Jensen’s breathing nearly stopped when he heard this. “Damn it, why didn’t you call me? Or text or… DM me since you know even though I don’t use that stupid account, I still get your posts or messages?”

“It would’ve been in the middle of the night in L.A. and I didn’t wanna wake you up because I’m overreacting and can’t shake this off,” Jared returned, feeling like a stupid rookie even after all these years. “I just miss seeing you, talking to you and… stuff,” he murmured, dropping his eyes to the thin silver ring he’d been rolling in his hand all evening. “How long until Rome?”

“Too long at this rate,” Jensen muttered, making a choice. “Hey, Facetime with me a second?”

“Ahh, I can’t,” Jared seemed to hedge a bit too long and that was more of an answer than anything he could’ve spoken. “I wanna see you, Jen but…”

Jensen closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll probably want to kick you in the ass for letting it get this bad, won’t I?” he asked knowingly and then let out a slow breath. “Okay, well, since looking at each other for this is out for the moment, care to listen to a couple of the dreams I’ve had?”

“Don’t know. Do I?” Jared was calming down slowly at just the sound of Jensen’s voice in his ear. “What do they involve or should I ask?”

“Most of them involve you, naked on a bed, though that part’s optional since we can do this anywhere. Me sucking you off to take all that negative stress and crap outta your head.” Jensen’s lips curved into a slow smile at the choked breath and then soft moan he got in response. “I also had a dream one night about you leaning against a wall in our bedroom. You were wearing that one pair of jeans that I won’t let you outta the house in cause I can’t keep my hands offa you and…”

“Oh, the faded blue ones that I planned to wear to my panel with Sebastian tomorrow?” Jared’s eyes had slowly closed and he let some of the dark memories fade in favor of hearing Jensen’s reply which came shortly and swiftly.

“You will not wear those jeans to any panel and sure as hell not to one where you’re on stage with Sebastian,” Jensen flat out told him and made another note to make a second call once he was off the phone with Jared. “I’m locking those things in Vancouver where I thought they still were.”

Jared felt his body start to relax as he chuckled. “I packed ‘em cause I planned to wear them in Rome… for you… or at a panel.” He stuck his tongue in his cheek.

The jeans in question were faded denim and had accidentally been shrunk by Jared’s sister on a visit home. They still fit him but they were tighter than what he normally wore, and they hugged him in ways that he quickly learned turned Jensen on. Now, he wore them just for him or if he wanted to get his friend’s attention when they went out to a bar or a social event.

“No panels,” Jensen growled and then laughed. “Can I get back to the dream?” he asked, going on only when he heard a soft grunt. He could picture Jared focusing on him now, and not the episode. “I peeled you out of those jeans and then I took you in my mouth and while I sucked you off I used my fingers to open you up slowly with that one warming lube we have and… This helping any, Jay?” He heard the sounds from the other end of the line and knew his friend was touching himself, which was what Jensen had intended all along.

“It would help more if it was you touching me but… yeah, a little,” Jared had been so overwhelmed since the end of the season. He hadn’t realized until just now how long it had been since he’d done anything like this. “I’ve been so down since we filmed and…”

“Shh, let that go now. Close your eyes and just use that really too-good imagination you’ve got and pretend it’s me touching you,” Jensen urged. While he let his low voice drop another notch and his own fingers undid his jeans, he swore to himself that next year they were planning this better. “That’s what I’m doing now. Pretending it’s your hand on me.”

Jared groaned. Once he fully shed his jeans, fingers shaking, he closed them over his slowly hardening erection while listening to the low deep voice of Jensen and his ‘sex is sin’ drawl.

They’d had phone sex plenty of times, so it wasn’t unusual. Still, it was hard for Jared to focus until it hit him what Jensen was doing on the other end of the line. He began to respond to the sounds being echoed back at him as he slid his hand up and down in a steady motion until he was fully hard and biting his lower lip as sweat broke out on his forehead. “Jen…”

“Let me hear you, Jay,” Jensen urged, his own body responding to the low moans and gasps of want, of need from Jared. He could hear him longing for actual contact. “Use your other hand now to play with your balls like I know you like it when I do.”

Groaning lowly, his own fingers made the same motions until he could feel his balls tightening. He kept coming closer to climax, but what pushed Jensen over was the sound of his name being shouted from Jared’s lips thousands of miles away in London.

No words were exchanged for several long moments. Only the soft, low sounds of moans and gasps and mumbled words that only the two of them would understand came between the lines. Finally, Jensen’s vision cleared and he slumped back in his chair. He knew he would never be able to sit here and read scripts without remembering this moment. Then his concern notched back up. “Jay? Jared? You still with me, buddy?”

The strength of the orgasm had stunned Jared for a few seconds. He slowly came back when Jensen’s voice picked up and he wiped his hand clean before reaching for the phone to tuck it close between his neck and shoulder while searching for something to wipe himself off with.

“Sleepy now,” he yawned, body spent but nervous to sleep. “What if I have another dream like…”

“If you dream, it’ll be happy dreams and tomorrow you’ll wake up and feel better.” Jensen scrolled through his phone until he found the file he wanted and quickly put it into an email. “I’m emailing you something. Open it, put it on repeat and maybe it’ll help you sleep. It used to work.” He smiled, hearing a mumble and picturing Jared falling asleep on him. “Hang up, open the file and then try to sleep, Jay. I promise if I can find a way, I’ll make this better. For now, you sleep and, Jay? Stay offline and away from anything involving the finale until I get to you.”

“I’d be in Twitter withdrawal if I stay offline until Rome though, Jensen,” Jared argued through a yawn, rolling over to find the file sent to him. He felt his heart catch as he realized what it was. “Is this…?”

“Yeah, but if you ever tell Kane or Carlson I sent you that song I will make all those knit beanies you love so much disappear. I won’t sing with them or Jason, so they’ll be pretty mad.” Jensen chuckled. From the drawer, he grabbed a piece of clothing that had once been a t-shirt until one time when he was burping JJ and she threw up on it. Now it was used as a rag, and Jensen used it to wipe his hand clean from what they had done earlier. “Jay?” He finished wiping his hand clean, then he leaned his head onto his hand while staring at a small snapshot he kept in the top drawer. “Love you.”

Jared smiled more. “Love you too, Jen,” he murmured in reply. With a mumbled ‘Thanks’, he clicked the phone off and open the MP3 file of one of the songs that Jensen sometimes recorded on his phone. He let it play as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Back in California, Jensen took a couple minutes to settle his nerves before making sure he looked presentable. Moving to unlock the door, he opened it and nearly tripped into Danneel. She was leaning against the wall across from the door with a knowing smile, a slip of paper and his larger flight bag. “Uhh, what’s up?” he asked as the bag was shoved into his arms. “Kicking me out, Dani?”

“Yep,” she smiled, holding out the paper that seemed to have a time and a gate number on it. “I’m kicking your useless ass out and putting it on a plane to where you can do some good. We both know you’re gonna end up there anyway.” She ignored his wide eyes and tossed her long red hair over her shoulder. “Go kiss JJ goodbye and be sure to tell Gen to call me cause when I hung up a little while ago, she was still worried about him. So, I called and put you on the redeye to London. Now get moving cause Steve’s coming in a few minutes to drive you to the airport. I also booked you into the same motel which wasn’t easy, since it’s crazy with the convention going on. So, get a move on, Jensen!” She shooed him with her fingers then laughed when he pulled her into his arms to hug her. “Hey, watch it, mister! I know where that hand’s been!”

“Thank you, Dani!” Jensen had been close friends with Danneel even before they married and while it was harder to maintain a marriage with her in LA while he traveled extensively, they made it work. He was glad that, like Gen, she accepted his beyond-friendship with Jared. “I will be back or… you and JJ could meet up with Gen and the boys since she’s not going to Rome or…”

“Go, Jensen.” She smiled kindly before shaking her head as he took off to go see their little girl before his ride to the airport arrived. Danneel waited until he was far enough away to stick her tongue in her cheek. “Jensen? Gonna share a pic of Jared in these jeans that you won’t let him wear to a panel with me?”

“Hell no,” Jensen snorted without turning around.

By the time Jensen was on a late flight across to London, Jensen had done as much damage control as he was able. He called their bodyguard to beg and plead with him to get Jared’s panels and other duties pushed to as late the following day as he could manage. Obviously they demanded an explanation, but Jensen went forward without going into too much detail.

After that, he called Gen to tell her about the sudden change in plans. He made sure she and the boys were okay and reassured her that Jared was close to falling to sleep when they had hung up earlier.

“The boys are having a sleepover with West so that’s good. I’ll go back to the room so he won’t be alone in the morning,” the petite actress said. She was relieved he was coming. “Do you have a way to the hotel?” she asked. Seeing a hand shoot up in the background as if offering his services, Gen shook her head. “Do you really think it’ll be safe for Jensen to see you first thing when he gets off the plane, Misha?”

“No!” Jensen really did adore the guy who played Castiel. There were times where he wanted to throttle Misha, especially with his over-eagerness at pranks or how he stirred up the fans. Right now he was not eager to see Misha. “Clif said if he couldn’t make it that he’d send Jason. Just make sure Jared knows his stuff has been pushed back and try to get him to eat. Also, if possible, don’t tell him I’m coming and keep…”

Gen laughed lightly. “Jensen, I’m the mother of two with a husband who can often act as young as Tom. I think I can handle this until you get here,” she assured him. “Mark said he’s avoiding Jared until he stops trying to exorcise him and Misha’s been banished from going around him for a little while. Or so Richard said earlier.”

“I don’t have to take orders from maybe-dead archangels,” Misha retorted but yelped when his wife smacked him in the head while passing with a bowl of snacks for the children in another room.

“Mark’s threatening to get you banned from Twitter, Richard has pretty much banned you from Jared, Tom said his Uncle Jensen was going to probably hit Uncle Misha in the nose, AND Jensen is avoiding you. It must be for your own personal safety, so tell me. What did you do to cause this mess?” Vicki demanded in a voice of tolerance she only had for her husband.

Misha opened his mouth to object; to say this was not his fault. He finally closed it with a sigh. “Okay, so maybe I thought if he watched it while we tweeted back and forth he’d see it as just another finale and… Hey! Again with the slapping?” He grabbed a pillow to defend himself as Vicki stared at him like he’d grown a third head.

“This is Jared! A boy who can tear up at cute pictures of fuzzy kittens and puppies! This is a boy who has just spent a season pretending to be on the outs with his pretend brother! This is a boy who just did how many takes of one of the most emotionally touching brother moments I have seen on this show. And you thought he could watch the episode, tweet about it and not lose it?!” Her dark eyes were hot as she slapped at him again while blowing out a disgusted breath. “I swear if you weren’t so cute I’d divorce you for being a moron. Gen, honey, I’ll keep the boys tonight. Tomorrow we’ll take the kids out to see the sights while Clif tries to keep the other side of this equation from tossing my moronic angel-playing husband off of the London Bridge.”

“I was thinking in front of a bus but that works too,” Jensen muttered but then had to hang up and could only hope things were better when he arrived.

Making a long flight from L.A. to London wasn’t easy in the best of times. The jet lag was bad and by the time Jensen arrived, his eyes felt like lead but resigned to the fact that it would be hours before he could sleep.

“Did Dani just kick you outta the house in what you had on or were you half asleep when you got dressed?” Jason Manns asked upon seeing his friend step out of the airport with his flight bag over his shoulder.

“Yes, and I’m half asleep now so just point me in the direction of where I’m going and please tell me he’s still asleep.” Jensen was surprised to not see too many people at the airport for the late morning. He was glad, though, since he hadn’t given any thought to how it would look if it hit the internet that he was in London but not scheduled at the convention.

Jason was a friend to Jensen and a singer who occasionally did concerts at the conventions. He was also the only one free that morning to make a sudden airport run since Clif was busy. “No, Jared’s awake, cranky about being told his schedule was all rearranged without telling him earlier. It seems both his laptop and phone have gone MIA,” he looked beside him with a quirky smile. “Jared without access to the internet is like a little kid losing sugar for a day. Clif gave me the version of the story Gen gave him… What really happened to bring you across the water, Jensen?”

“My friend falling apart over watching the finale without me. If I get his phone, I swear one of these days I’m deleting his Twitter thing.” Jensen was one of the few cast who didn’t do the whole online thing. He adored their fans, he really did, but he was just too private to see the point in things like Twitter, or Facebook or whatever the hell a Tumbler was. He left that to Jared, Misha, or the others and mainly used the one account just to keep Jared out of trouble as best as he could.

The drive from the airport took roughly 20 minutes so Jensen closed his eyes for the whole trip. Early on in his acting career, he’d gained the ability to be able to close his eyes when he found the time. That ability came in handy while filming long shoots on Supernatural.

“According to Steve’s text to me, Dani booked you a couple floors above Jared’s suite so if you want, I’ll take care of checking you in, taking your bag up if you just wanna… Right, I’ll just go ahead and do the checking in thing then,” Jason sighed as Jensen was out of the car and into the hotel without replying or paying attention to anyone hanging around in the lobby. “Yep, we’ll be keeping Collins away from him for a while.”

When Jensen stepped out of the elevator, he saw Gen just closing a door and offered her a wry smile even as she hurried to hug him. “So, did he eat or is he just pissed?” he asked her, listening for loud voices but didn’t hear anything yet.

“He griped when Clif told him everything had been moved back but when he figured out someone, no names mentioned, hid his phone and the laptop, he switched to pouting over that. When I was getting ready to go meet Vicki, he was disputing Clif’s suggestion that he go soak his head or take a shower since he looks like roadkill… You seem like that, too.” Gen lifted her eyebrows at the casual, if wrinkled, jeans, t-shirt, .and leather jacket but what drew her attention was the deep shadows under Jensen’s tired green eyes. “There’s food inside so you’d better eat something and then maybe he will. Jensen, thanks for coming.”

“I should’ve seen the signs in New York, Gen,” he replied, hand closing on the door to smile more at her. “He’ll be fine. If Clif doesn’t toss him out a window.”

“Clif might toss both your asses outta window for giving me ulcers,” the stern gruff voice of their ever present bodyguard came from the other side of the door just as it was yanked open. “Gen, go have fun with the kids. I’ve got the other little boys covered.”

Jensen threw a snort and an eyeroll at that. As soon as the door closed, though, he turned serious. “Where is he?” he asked after not seeing Jared in the main rooms of the suite.

“I finally convinced him he wasn’t leaving this room until he took a shower and shaved. That’s where he’s supposed to be now. Then I figured you’d be here and I’d leave the fight in your hands to get him to eat.” Clif knew if he already didn’t have a bald head that dealing with either of the J’s would probably have made him pull out his hair. “Here’s a copy of the new schedule. You owe me for being able to get his stuff pushed back. Since Misha so graciously -and with his wife glaring at him- offered to move his panels and photo ops up, the convention people went for it without too many questions. Now get your ass in there and fix whatever the hell happened!”

Jensen merely touched his brow in a mock salute. He opened the door to the bedroom suite and heard the shower running. He eyed the dropped clothing with a shake of his head.

From the start, it had amazed Jensen how he and Jared bonded, first as friends then as more. They were totally different personality types. Jensen was private; Jared was outgoing. Jensen liked order; Jared had a bad habit of dropping stuff wherever he was, including his clothes. Jared was like a big kid.

Jensen saw that Gen had laid out clean clothes for the panel and, later on, photo ops. Jensen pursed his lips a second before digging into a garment bag for other stuff. By the time he’d put together an outfit and hid the damn knit beanie, the shower had stopped and the sound of a razor was heard.

From years of working and living with Jared, Jensen knew about how long it would take for his friend to shave so he waited a bit before moving to the closed bathroom door and knocking on it.

“Go away!” Jared’s voice still sounded ragged and tired but there was also a hint of temper. “I should just stay in here until it’s time for me to go down!”

“Yeah, and how old are you again?” Jensen tossed back with a smirk and then he counted down in his head to see how long it took for the door to jerk open. He got to three when something clattered to the sink. He moved from the side to in front of the door. He hit five when the door was jerked open and only Jensen’s fast movement to reach out kept Jared from tripping and falling when he did a fast stop upon seeing him. “Hey, Jay,” he murmured huskily.

Jared knew he’d woken up cranky but that was nothing new. He always did if he went to sleep upset. It certainly didn’t help his mood when he’d been told the day’s schedule had been screwed up and all his stuff was now pushed back until later, though. He needed to break the funk he was in. Usually being with the fans, doing panels, and photo ops put him in a better mood. Because he couldn’t do his panels at the right times, he’d gotten upset again. When he realized his laptop and cell phone were both missing, he just about lost his temper.

The laptop he could do without. That phone, though… It had the song that Jensen had sent and he figured he could stick an earphone in. Maybe hearing his friend sing would level him out. Jared figured Gen had sneaked the phone out from under his hand.

He showered and shaved only because he didn’t want Clif yelling or, worse, calling either his mother or Jensen with news that he was acting worse than his two-year old son on Tom’s worst tantrum.

Jared had snarled at the knock on the door but when the voice that spoke registered, it was all he could do not to trip over his own feet in his haste to open the door. Then he nearly fell at the fast stop when he came face to face with… “Jen,” he whispered. His heart went into his throat before he launched himself forward to grab his friend and hold on tightly. “Jensen!”

“Jay,” Jensen had planned to say something snarky or something just to make Jared smile. The moment his arms wrapped around the younger man, however, he closed his eyes to take a shaky breath. He felt the slight trembling under his hands and smiled against still damp skin when he pressed his lips against Jared’s neck. “In case you forgot… I really do love you, y’know.”

Jared’s laugh was shaky and watery, arms tightening. He wasn’t even aware that he was being pushed back against the wall near the bathroom door. “Yeah, I think I got that just by seeing you here.”

He was stunned to see Jensen standing there. Jared suspected he knew why but he wouldn’t ever doubt the depth of their friendship or the love that had built from it. “How’d you get here?” he asked, then grimaced. Even to him, that sounded stupid. “I mean... Why are you here? How long can you stay? How mad is Dani? Did you have something to do with my stuff getting pushed back and…. mhmm...”

The litany of questions broke off. His head was pulled close and his lips claimed in a searing kiss, a kiss that held weeks of missed passion and he suddenly felt his body surge to life.

“Answers, in order: a plane” Jensen kissed him once. “You.” Another kiss. “You’re stuck with me until we can find a counter-balance to this normal thing.” Kiss. “Dani made the arrangements.” Kiss. “And… Yeah, I did,” Jensen finished. He showered Jared with kisses that slowly turned from hot and demanding to slow and teasing, fingers carding back through long, dark, still-wet hair. They suddenly clenched, and he pulled Jared’s head up and back so his lips could lock onto the spot on his neck that he knew would made Jared moan. “I know you, Jared. I knew you’d be too raw to do your panels early so I begged Clif to get them pushed back. Now ask me what you’re gonna do.”

“God, hopefully not wake up to find out you’re a dream,” Jared mumbled, closing his fingers into the back of Jensen’s jacket. He slowly came to the realization that Jensen had way too many clothes on while he only had on a pair of jeans there were feeling too tight. “Does it involve one of us being naked?”

“God, you can be so much like a horny teenager it’s scary,” Jensen laughed. He understood the feeling as he suddenly found that he wouldn’t mind that scenario himself. He had to remind himself there’d be time for that later and he had a plan. “Later. I swear, later, one or both of us will be naked. For the moment, however, you are going to get dressed, calm that head of hair without the use of that knit cap, eat something with me and then…” he paused to let his fingers slide up to curve around the back of Jared’s neck. He moved his lips closer to his ear to whisper something.

Between the slow touch on his chest and the warm breath on his ear, Jared nearly missed the actual words until he caught the end and had to mentally rewind. His eyes suddenly shot wide open and were bright with happy mischief. “Really? We can do that?” he asked with the gleefulness of a kid on Christmas morning.

“Yep, we can and we are,” Jensen smiled. His face had the same mischievous glint he got before they pranked someone on set.

“But… You’re not supposed to do that here.” Jared pointed out. He let his head hit the wall when Jensen’s soft lips kissed down his neck. Jensen tugged Jared away from the wall and toward the bed to see totally different clothes laid out.

“True, but I talked to our lovely, wonderful, con person who hates me with a passion for waking her up in the middle of the night, and got her to swing it. It’ll surprise the fans and also make Misha’s day a living nightmare. If he thought we were bad on set then he hasn’t seen anything yet.” Jensen waited until Jared pulled on a t-shirt and then a button-down. He sighed when Jared started combing through his hair with his fingers, and just did it himself. “He’s always crashing our panels, so today, after you eat, we’re crashing his.”

“Clif will yell,” Jared laughed. He felt more relaxed now than he had in weeks and knew it was because of the man with him. “Can we skip food and go straight to crashing panels?” he asked with his best puppy dog look.

Jensen smiled while fixing the collar on Jared’s shirt. He knew he needed to change his once they ate. “No. You need to eat and so do I. Then I’ll put on better clothes and we’ll go crash a convention since I hear Mark’s got a panel or something today too.”

“Oh, I do love it when your evil side comes out to play.” Jared glanced down at the feel of fingers lacing with his. “Jen?”

“Before we go out there, before we go play, I need you to be honest with me.” Jensen shifted so they were facing one another, palms touching as he reached up with his free hand to find the silver ring that Jared once again wore on a cord around his neck. “Can you handle it if anyone asks about the finale and how you reacted?” That was his biggest worry, what with it still being so new and raw to his friend.

Jared had hoped no one would ask but the larger side of him knew someone probably would. He knew he had to be honest but also calm. “How close will you be?” he asked curiously.

“As close as you need me to be without giving them anything else to talk about.” Jensen would be as close as Clif would let him get since they usually did their solo panels alone unless one felt the need to crash the other. “Just remember that Sam is buried for a month or so and that I’m right here with you. _I_ am not dead and _I_ will give you very real proof of that tonight or tomorrow and any other time I can get you alone,” he kissed him softly and was happy to feel that Jared wasn’t so tense now. “It’ll be okay now, Jay. We’ll talk this through as soon as Aslyum’s over and we’re alone for a few hours but right now… Right now, can you do this?”

“You came clear from L.A. to be with me because I fell apart, didn’t you?” Jared knew he should feel bad about that. The chance to feel bad melted when his breath was stolen by a slow kiss.

“I came clear from L.A. to be with you because, a, yeah, you fell apart and needed me and b, I wanted to be with you, Jay,” Jensen returned. His voice was low but his lips curved into a smile that he reserved only for Jared. “Love you,” he whispered.

It was these moments that Jared truly missed when they were apart. Oh, he’d never deny the sex was hot but more important to him were just these quiet moments between them. The support they gave one another on and off screen had helped him more than once and he knew with Jensen’s support, he could get over this bump.

“I love you too,” he murmured. He relaxed for the first time in days, not thinking about the finale or what was to come. He leaned into the touch on his face just as a hard pounding came on the door. A frustrated bodyguard was wondering if they planned to make an appearance or not. “He needs a vacation. He’s cranky today.”

“Yeah, and I wonder why,” Jensen laughed. After a final moment to arrange and fix Jared’s appearance, he stepped back to grin. “Ready to go crash a panel, Jay?”

“Oh, so more than ready,” Jared grinned. He was happy that between them distance didn’t matter and all would be good. “You think Clif will let us do this?” he asked, on his way to where he smelled food.

Jensen stuck his tongue in his cheek. He knew the bodyguard had no clue to his plan and would be lost. “Maybe.” He shot Clif an innocent look while grabbing a piece of bacon. He went through his bag to see if he had a shirt that wasn’t too wrinkled.

“Let you do what?” Clif demanded and then shot both actors a hard look. He’d been with them through multiple prank wars and didn’t like the shared looks or Jensen’s soft humming. He was changing in the living room while making sure Jared ate. “Guys? What am I supposed to be letting you do?”

“Nothing Clif,” came two identical answers of pure innocence. Right there, the big man knew the rest of his day would be spent keeping these two out of trouble and making sure a certain angel didn’t end up covered in slime or anything else Jensen could get his hands on.

“Guys! You are not pranking the angel!” he yelled.

While Jared made last ditch effort to find his knit cap and Jensen shoved it into his jacket pocket, the older of the two looked back over his shoulder with green eyes, bright and calm. “Clif, you have my word as an actor and a Texan that Jared and I have no intention whatsoever of pranking a fully powered or possibly deceased angel.”

“Yeah, but since his grace was stolen and he’s using someone else’s, that doesn’t count as fully powered, right?” asked Jared from the hall. “That rule just goes for Richard or Sebastian or Tahmoh now. Right, Jen?”

“Exactly,” Jensen smiled. He stepped into the hall and nudged Jared toward the elevator. He counted to 15 before they heard the bellow and he grinned, hearing Jared’s full laugh. He knew this would be an interesting day. “Let’s go find our angel.”

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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